Don't worry if your job title doesn't include the word writer, information,
or content—your most important contribution is your knowledge and expertise.
Your willingness to share what you know with users will help them to accomplish
their goals and be successful.

The Information Development team is ready to help turn your contributions
into clear, concise, consistent, easy-to-read content for users. We do this, in
part, by adhering to the standards that are defined in this style guide. The
team doesn't expect contributors to know or adhere to all of these standards;
however, if you are interested in improving your writing or learning some of
the style standards at Rackspace, we invite you to explore them.

The style guide includes hundreds of standards, but you can start with the
following ones to help you boost the effectiveness of your writing.

Standard

More information and examples

Write in active voice.

Active voice makes the performer of the action (usually the user) the
subject of the sentence. Active-voice sentences are more direct and
easier to understand than passive-voice sentences.

Users are more engaged with content when it talks to them directly.
You talk to users directly by using second person, addressing the user
as you. When you use second person with the imperative mood (in which
the subject you is understood) and active voice, you make the text
clear, concise, and direct.

Write short sentences and paragraphs, and use lists whenever
possible.

Even a well-written long sentence can be hard to follow and understand,
so try to limit sentences to 25 words. Short paragraphs are easier to
scan and understand than longer ones. When listing three or more items,
use a bullet list instead of embedding the items in a paragraph.

Pronouns such as it, this, there, and that are useful, but
you must ensure that their antecedents (the words that they are used
in place of) are clear, and that they (the pronouns) don’t cause
vagueness and ambiguity.

Use short, simple words, and use them as they are defined in a general
or accepted industry dictionary. Each word or phrase should have only
one meaning that is used consistently throughout the content. Avoid
using humor, jargon, and metaphors.